The present invention generally relates to communication systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process for obtaining expert advice and/or communicating with others in real-time via an on-demand communication network.
Historically, the primary means for communicating in real-time was via a land-line telephone through a Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN). The PSTN is a public circuit-switched telephone network for routing telephone calls. For example, one person dials the phone number of a second person. The PSTN processes the dialed telephone number and routes the caller to the receiver to create a voice communication connection between the two parties. In some instances, there were per minute charges for the telephone call, such as with 1-900 numbers. More recently, the real-time communication options have greatly expanded beyond the traditional land-line telephones. For example, voice communication connections are frequently made via traditional land-line telephones, cellular telephones, satellite telephones, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) connections, video conference phone connections or satellite voice/data connections. New channels of communication are ever increasing beyond the traditional PSTN. These channels increase the flexibility and the type of communication between communicating parties. Most importantly, the development of such new technology presents new service and business opportunities for entities capable of providing expert advice or otherwise endeavoring to communicate with others in ways previously impossible.
More specifically, the medical field is an industry greatly dependent upon communication between contracting parties. Health care traditionally required patients to physically see a doctor at a local medical facility. The costs of seeing a health care profession is expensive. It is well known that health care costs, especially in the United States, have significantly increased over the last few decades. Additionally, more workers are without health care insurance to pay for the ever increasing health care costs. As a result, the private health care industry has endeavored to develop alternative health care solutions that increase consumer convenience while driving down costs for consumers, physicians, employers, and insurance companies. Increasing the ease and flexibility of communication between health care facilities and patients is one area to reduce the costs of health care while creating new business opportunities for the economy.
Private health care industry companies are now using the growth in communication options between health care professionals and patients to employ new means of providing health care. New health care solutions include technologically advanced telephone communication solutions, streamlined walk-in clinics, and “cash friendly” medical practices. Specifically, companies such as TelaDoc and Dial-A-Doc use advances in voice communication and data transmission technology as a means for interconnecting medical professionals with patients. For instance, TelaDoc is a professional association that contracts with licensed physicians capable of providing the necessary medical care to patients. Patients contact TelaDoc and register with the service by providing relevant medical history information. Patients call a toll-free TelaDoc number to request a consultation with a health care professional when the patient is in need of medical care or needs medical advice. TeleDoc processes the request after the patient hangs up the telephone. The patient waits for a return phone call. Ideally, the patient receives a callback from a physician within three hours. The licensed physician returning the patient phone call provides the level of needed health care advice such as recommending a diagnosis or treatment. The patient may be billed for each diagnosis, phone call, etc. The physician may be contracted with TeleDoc to receive a flat payment for each returned phone call or a per minute rate, depending on the contracted arrangement with the service.
While the existing telephone consultation companies have certain advantages of potentially providing lower cost health care to patients, such consultation companies do have several drawbacks. One particular drawback is that patients must wait for a return call from the physician. This can be particularly frustrating in a society that seeks immediate diagnosis for ailments. Often, it takes thirty to forty minutes for TeleDoc to process the patient request, find an available physician, and thereafter have the physician contact the patient. Sometimes it takes up to three hours to connect a physician and patient in real-time communication. Of course, the patient may otherwise be unavailable when the physician finally calls the patient back. Ailments progress and proliferate when left untreated until a later stage in development. Limited educational resources also increase the difficulty for patients to obtain the information necessary to identify or even treat an ailment. Moreover, existing telephone consultation services are particularly disadvantageous for patients seeking immediate medical information regarding a particularly distressing or critical medical condition. Accordingly, such patients may opt to visit the emergency room a local hospital instead of waiting for the return phone call.
Moreover, the severity and complexity of ailments increase when left untreated.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a process for obtaining expert advice on-demand utilizing the advances in communication technology. Specifically, such a system should include methods for connecting a caller with a corresponding expert, should allow the expert to set availability, should allow the expert to set a fee schedule, and should be available to callers via a broad range of communication networks. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.